New Series Alert: Devoted Daughter Coming Soon To Zee One

Zee One, a Bollywood channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises that distributes various English dubbed series and films from India is reported to be rolling out for the second new series for the year, Devoted Daughter (Ghar Ek Mandir - Kripa Agrasen Maharaj Ki).

It revolves around Genda, who is an ardent devotee of Agrasen Maharaj and belongs to a low-income family. She is married into a business family and faces a huge loss in their business after marriage. Meanwhile, Genda’s husband also suffers from epilepsy.

Produced under the banner Zee Studio, it premiered through &TV on 10 August 2021 and 139 episodes are reported to have been filmed soon so far. It starred Shrenu Parikh as Genda Agarwal, Akshay Mhatre as Varun Agarwal and Sameer Dharmadhikari as Agrasen Maharaj.

As reported through various media outlets, Devoted Wife will be making its freemium debut on Zee One after launching on Zee Family sometime in 2023.

Aside from Devoted Daughter, & TV had produced a number of productions to have been aired in Africa. That includes Begusarai, The Heir, Perfect Pati, Razia Sultan and Gangaa all of which are made available to Zee World and Zee One with Dayan, Destructive Beauty on eExtra.

New Series Alert: Get Ready For A Rollercoaster Of Laughter With CN Challengers Go!

Straight from the heart of South Africa, Cartoon Network Africa's newest YouTube series, CN Challengers Go!, is bound to keep you entertained at any time of the day! Hosted by the laugh-out-loud dynamic duo of Ryan and Wilsy, each episode unfolds with the spin of the challenge wheel unveiling their next crazy mission. From unexpected and fun activities like bagpipe-playing antics and rocket launches to testing fans' Cartoon Network knowledge and the suspenseful 'doughnut lottery,' where mustard may replace custard for one lucky (or unlucky) participant – expect nothing less than a whirlwind of weird, wacky, and wild moments. 

 

Ana González, Editorial Lead Southern Europe and Africa, Warner Bros. Discovery, shares her excitement, "CN Challengers Go! is a fresh take for our brand, and we're confident it'll be a smash hit with kids across the continent. We're thrilled to bring a South African-produced show with new local talent and fun  challenges to our audience." 

 

Crafted by South African filmmaker and content creator Howard James Fyvie, CN Challengers Go! is led by two dynamic local hosts. They will take turns spinning the crazy CN Challengers Go! Wheel and tackle three to four challenges every episode. Ryan Dube, a 15-year-old student from Brooklyn, Cape Town, brings his academic prowess and passion for acting, filming, and presenting to his breakout role. Wilsy Kituku, also known as 'Where's Wilsy,' is a 20-year-old creative and social media performer who effortlessly combines his love for comedy with the rhythmic beats of hip-hop music, injects his optimistic outlook and love for film, animation, and comedy into the mix.  

 

“Wilsy and Ryan had briefly met before and hit it off immediately during the auditions, becoming friends during the casting. You can see this great older brother and younger brother synergy between them on screen. They're hilarious,” reveals Howard.  

The first episode of this exciting new series is set to premiere on the @CartoonNetworkAfrica YouTube channel on Friday, 9 February, with a new instalment released every other week after that. González emphasises, "This series is all about bringing the fun directly to your screens – it's local, it's big, it's bold, and it perfectly embodies the spirit of our channel: laughter, adventure, energy, and a touch of wackiness!" 

Channel Termination: One Freestate Televisual And NWTV No Longer Available On DStv

One Freestate Televisual was a community channel based in Bloemfontein embracing the culture of the Free State while NWTV catered for the North West and Southern Africa. Both channels featured a variety of programs ranging from news, reality shows and drama series.

As seen this past week, MultiChoice has opted to discontinue carriage of One Freestate Televisual (channel 264) and NWTV (channel 266) after residing on the platform for less than 3 months. Both channels had shared different statements regarding their removal.

Statement from NWTV

Good day, NWTV viewers and supporters.

It is with sadness that we announce that DStv/Multichoice has opted to switch NWTV off. We thank you for your support, and we're honoured to have served you for this short time.

Basically, producers and other crew members will be left unemployed and MultiChoice doesn't mention what will happen to existing local content viewed on NWTV. If we had to guess, the latter might surface on existing community channels particularly Soweto TV as seen with Faith Cooking.

Statement from One Freestate Televisual

According to One Freestate Televisual, they're currently having a carriage dispute with MultiChoice. They hope to resolve the matter and return to the platform soon but as of right now the channel can only be found on StarSat.

One Freestate Televisual and NWTV closures comes a few days after B4U Movies had left the platform following its troubleshooting issues last year. This would be the third and fourth TV channel to have exited the platform in under a month with Emmanuel TV being the first.

MultiChoice doesn't outline a reason for the sudden closures of NWTV or One Freestate Televisual. Prior to this, MultiChoice had planned to axe two other channels from their platforms, 1Magic and Me. 

Recap To The Week: Vivendi’s Canal+ Group Makes Move To Acquire African Entertainment Giant MultiChoice

Vivendi’s Canal+ Group has made an offer to take full control of African entertainment company The MultiChoice Group, in which it already holds a 31.7% stake.

“The Canal+ Group confirms that it has submitted to the board of directors of MultiChoice a letter containing a non-binding indicative offer with a view to acquiring all of the issued ordinary shares of MultiChoice that it does not yet hold, subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals,” the Paris-based pay-TV giant said in statement on Thursday.

Canal+ said it has offered R105 per ordinary share, which was a 40% premium on their closing price of R75 on January 31.

The group emphasized that neither “the evolution” or “the conditions of a possible transaction” were “certain”, adding that any operation would comply with all laws and regulations related to the South African media sector and companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

It remains to be seen whether the offer will gather steam given that South Africa currently has rules in place limiting foreign ownership of commercial South African broadcasters to 20%, although moves are underway to increase this to 49%.

The move to acquire MultiChoice outright comes a month after parent group Vivendi announced it was studying a project to split its activities into several entities.

“Canal+ is actively preparing its stock market listing following the announcement of the proposed split from its parent company Vivendi,” read Thursday’s Canal+ Group statement.

“This project would allow investors to benefit from the merger of Canal+ and MultiChoice, the ultimate objective of the Canal+ Group being to also obtain a listing in South Africa.”

The Canal+ Group, which started building a position in MultiChoice in 2020, said its aim was to create “a large-scale African media company capable of thriving in an increasingly competitive international market.”

“Canal+ is a long-term investor in MultiChoice and South Africa, and is proud to have been actively involved in the African media sector for 30 years. To accelerate MultiChoice’s development in Africa and beyond, it will need to adopt a strategy that will enable it to increase its size and strengthen its local and global footprint,” said Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada. 

“Our potential offer, if successful, will be an important step in enabling MultiChoice to realize its full potential. Combined with Canal+, MultiChoice would have the resources to gain scale and invest in local African talent and stories, and would have the necessary proprietary technology resources,” he continued.

“We are convinced that a merger of our two groups would enable the new entity to address the structural challenges facing the media sector, to develop authentic and ambitious African content, to support more local production companies, and to expand access to sport for its subscribers while investing in local sport.”

Created in the early 1980s, with backing from South African technology giant Naspers, MultiChoice currently has some 20 million subscribers across Africa.

TLC’s Brand-New Relationship Series ‘Love & Translation’ Premieres In Africa On Valentine’s Day

In TLC’s brand-new relationship series, LOVE & TRANSLATION, three American bachelors travel to paradise, where they will be joined by twelve women from nine different countries who don’t speak any English. Without a shared language or the use of a translator, this series explores how singles looking for love come together in an attempt to find a connection. In spending time together and focusing on getting to know one another, LOVE & TRANSLATION will showcase raw, genuine moments in a unique dating environment. LOVE & TRANSLATION premieres across Africa on Wednesday, 14 February @ 20:00 CAT on TLC Africa.

 

“As a leader in love and relationship series, we wanted to break outside the mould of our day-to-day and experiment in a new type of setting,” said Howard Lee, President of Discovery Networks & TLC. “LOVE & TRANSLATION will bring that rollercoaster of emotions our audience loves when genuine connections in unconventional relationships spark.”

 

With challenges that include utilising the five senses such as uninterrupted eye gazing and pheromone attraction tests, as well as adrenaline-pumping group date activities, these singles will try to learn about each other without the gift of language. And if the singles aren’t feeling that loving feeling with anyone, they can pack up their bags and look for love elsewhere. LOVE & TRANSLATION aims to discover what it takes to make a love connection when language is too foreign. Below are the singles who will be taking part in the new series:

American Singles from left to right: Kahlil (24) from Texas, Dylan (21) from Florida, Tripp (30) from California

International Singles top row from left to right: Sara (20) from Italy, Assia (21) from France, Jhenyfer (24) from Brazil, and Jin (32) from South Korea

International Singles middle row from left to right: Airi (20) from Japan, Tulay (25) from Germany, Jhuliana (23) from Bolivia, and Leidi (28) from Colombia

International Singles bottom row from left to right: Yam (29) from Mexico, Imane (21) from Morocco, Gisele (29) from Brazil, and Joceline (28) from France

 

LOVE & TRANSLATION is produced by Sharp Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television – Nonfiction, for TLC.